Decisive Smaragd
Decisive Smaragd (#098D01) is a deep green with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (117°, 99%, 28%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary violet. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
From the Latin decidere, to cut off — used as a modifier for colors that read as firm and final. Decisive black, decisive red: the implication is that the color has settled on its position and won't drift. Sits in the bold-bucket corner alongside resolute, with a slightly sharper edge.
The German and Slavic word for emerald — borrowed from the Greek smaragdos via Latin smaragdus. Smaragd in German jewelry vocabulary refers to the deep green of fine Colombian emeralds. The color refers to a faceted Russian Imperial-period smaragd: a saturated, slightly cool deep green with the gem's signature internal warmth.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.